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More U.N. states quietly say no to drug war
Inter Press Service (IPS)
Saturday, December 7, 2013
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An internal United Nations draft document leaked last weekend has offered outsiders a rare look at longstanding disagreements between member states over the course of U.N. drug policy. The document, first publicised by The Guardian and obtained by IPS, contains over 100 specific policy recommendations and proposals from member states, many at odds with the status quo on illicit drug eradication and prohibition. -
Le débat sur la légalisation du cannabis refait surface à Genève
Un comité interpartis soutient la création de cercles de consommateurs
Le Temps (Suisse)
Vendredi, 6 décembre 2013
Cultiver, vendre et autoriser la consommation de cannabis au sein d’associations contrôlées par l’Etat sur une période de trois ans, voilà le projet pilote dévoilé à Genève par un comité interpartis. Singularité de l’événement: toutes les forces politiques représentées au parlement ont participé à cette réflexion. Pour ses auteurs, le constat est clair. La politique répressive menée actuellement contre les dealers ne fonctionne pas, coûte cher aux collectivités – 200 millions de francs par année en Suisse, estiment ces derniers – et «pourrit la vie des Genevois». (A voir: Cannabis : vers une libéralisation?) -
Moroccan party holds hearing for legalizing marijuana crops
Associated Press
Thursday, December 5, 2013
One of Morocco’s main political parties, the Party for Authenticity and Modernity (PAM), established by a close adviser to the king, started the process of legalizing marijuana cultivation with a hearing in parliament over its industrial and medical uses. The hearing is the first step in eventually introducing a draft law, aiming to help small farmers who survive on the crop but live at the mercy of drug lords and eradication by police. "We are not seeking to legalize the production of drugs, but to search for possible medical and industrial uses of this plant and create an alternative economy in the region," said Milouda Hazib. (See also: Morocco lawmakers stoke cannabis debate) -
Réglementer le marché du cannabis dans des clubs sociaux
L'Hebdo (Suiza)
Jeudi, 5 decembre 2013
Un groupe de députés genevois interpartis propose une expérience pilote: autoriser pendant trois ans dans le canton la culture, la distribution et la consommation de cannabis dans le cadre d'associations contrôlées, les "Cannabis Social Club". Le projet pourrait être étendu à d'autres grandes villes suisses. Combinée à une répression accrue du commerce, cette solution vise à limiter les effets du marché ouvert. (Lire aussi: Des députés genevois favorables à une fumette légalisée) -
Israel seeks to tighten medical marijuana regulations
Health Ministry includes distribution via pharmacies, authorizing another 10 doctors to prescribe the drug
Haaretz (Israel)
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Israel's Health Ministry has expressed opposition to granting general practitioners the right to prescribe medical marijuana. Instead, the ministry will certify 10 doctors during the first half of 2014, allowing them to prescribe medicinal marijuana to the growing number of patients who currently use it. These 10, newly certified doctors will join the 20 doctors currently permitted by the Health Ministry to prescribe the drug. -
Leaked paper reveals UN split over war on drugs
Latin American nations call for treatment strategy, claiming UN's prohibition stance plays into hands of paramilitary groups
The Observer (UK)
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Major divisions over the global "war on drugs" have been revealed in a leaked draft of a UN document setting out the organisation's long-term strategy. The draft, written in September shows there are serious divisions over the longstanding US-led policy promoting prohibition as an solution to the problem. Instead, a number of countries are pushing for the "war on drugs" to be seen in a different light, placing greater emphasis on treating drug consumption as a public health problem, rather than a criminal justice matter. (See also: Drug control policies are changing: Why? And why has it taken so long?) -
Local medical marijuana firm to open next week
The Gleaner (Jamaica)
Saturday, November 30, 2013
History is expected to be created next week when Jamaica's first medical marijuana company, which is intended to be instrumental in extracting the medicinal value from the addictive elements of ganja, comes into being. Internationally renowned Jamaican scientist Professor Henry Lowe, the brainchild behind the initiative, has high hopes for the use of medical marijuana in Jamaica. -
Berlin council votes to open first cannabis cafe
BBC News (UK)
Friday, November 29, 2013
Councillors in Berlin have voted to launch the country's first cannabis cafe in their district. A large majority in the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg council have backed the move as part of efforts to curb local drug dealing, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily reports. District Mayor Monika Herrmann says the "prohibition policy" of the past few decades has failed: "We now have to think about offbeat solutions." (See also: Berlin borough pushing for Germany’s first cannabis coffee-shop | Kreuzberg stimmt für Coffeeshop) -
MPs urge Theresa May to reverse qat ban
Stimulant widely used by Somali and Yemeni communities was criminalised without proper evidence of its harm, committe says
The Guardian (UK)
Friday, November 29, 2013
MPs are urging Theresa May, the home secretary, to reverse the government's ban on the herbal stimulant qat, which is widely used in Britain's Somali and Yemeni communities. A Commons home affairs select committee report said the decision to ban qat, also known as khat, was not based on any evidence of medical or social harm and that it would be better to license importers of the plant. (See also: Why the khat ban will be almost as pointless as the drug itself) -
Egypt's wave of painkiller addiction
An opiate called tramadol has become increasingly popular in Egypt, but many are unaware of its dangers
Al Jazeera
November 29, 2013
Egyptians are using Tramadol as a recreational drug and also, reportedly, as an aphrodisiac. But most commonly, it serves as a cheap energy boost. At $3 for a sheet of ten pills, tramadol is generally affordable even in Egypt's dismal economy, and for many working-class people it has become a solution for the long, arduous workdays. A small-time Cairo drug dealer, who asked to be identified by the pseudonym Mohamed Farafiro, claimed that Egyptians like using the drug because it makes them productive. Sixty percent of Cairo's rehab patients are admitted for tramadol addiction.
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